have your cake (and eat it too)
by perfectlyrose
Summary: Donna drags James along to her wedding cake tasting at Bad Wolf Bakery when her fiancé can't make it. (Ten/Rose bakery AU)


"Donna, this is a terrible idea," James said as his best friend practically dragged him out of the café they'd had lunch in and down the street.

"Is not. Need someone to come with me and taste the cakes and I've decided it's your duty. Had his appointment set up for a month and I can't reschedule and you know Shaun had a work thing come up," Donna rambled out.

"Why can't you go on your own?"

"I have to have more than one opinion! And it's not like you've ever turned down free sugar in your life, don't know why you're trying to start now."

James sighed. "Because they're going to assume that _I'm_ your fiancé and it's going to be awkward."

"Ha!" Donna cried. "Won't take a second to set them straight on that."

"I, um, have a thing I have to get to?" he tried, as the bakery came into view.

"Nice try but I made sure when I invited you to lunch that you were free for the rest of the day. So stop complaining and help me pick out a cake for my wedding, you plonker."

"Yes ma'am."

"And don't ma'am me."

He opened his mouth to say it again, a twinkle in his eyes, but Donna saw it and whacked him on the arm. He saw the smile on her face as she turned away from him though and knew she wasn't too annoyed with him.

James was acutely aware that she'd been stressing out more and more about her upcoming wedding lately, so it was nice to fall back into their normal banter, even if it was wedding themed.

"Bad Wolf is an odd name for a bakery," he commented as they approached the door with the signature pink and gold emblem on the door.

"Well, this place comes highly recommended by everyone and the owner is very picky as to who she takes on as clients so be nice."

"I'm always nice!"

Donna snorted. She reached for the door handle and walked into the bakery without bothering to answer James.

After confirming with the bloke behind the counter that they were there for a wedding cake tasting, they were led to a back room where a table for two was set up.

"This looks fancy," Donna whispered.

"It's for a wedding, of course it's fancy," James whispered back. "Didn't you know what you were getting into?"

"Course I did," she blustered. "Just thought Shaun would be here to handle the fancy part while I handled the cake part."

"Got me instead."

"Knew you wouldn't ever actually turn down free cake," Donna said with a laugh. "Don't know how the hell you manage to stay that skinny with the way you eat."

"Superior biology," James boasted.

"You must be Donna," a bright voice from behind them said, interrupting Donna before she could start her response.

"Yes, and you're Rose?" Donna asked, turning to greet the blonde baker.

"I am. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. It's an exciting time!"

"Hectic is what it is. I'm so glad you were able to fit me in for this tasting. I've heard great things," Donna enthused.

Rose laughed. "Always good to know."

She turned her gaze on James who was trying his hardest not to stare at the baker who, he'd decided on first glance, had to be some kind of angel. "I take it you're Shaun, then? Congrats to you as well!"

"Oh no, no, no. No." James said, words overlapping with Donna's denials.

At Rose's confused look Donna started explaining. "Shaun had a work thing come up at the last minute today so I invited my best friend to come along instead." She winked at Rose. "He's my man of honor so it's his job to do whatever I want him to."

James wrinkled his nose. "I really wish you'd stop using that term."

"Would you rather be my maid of honor?"

"Not particularly. But you could still come up with something better. I could be your right hand man or I don't know…" he trailed off as he caught sight of the increasingly amused look on Rose's face.

"You two always like this?" she asked, smile wide.

"Yes," they answered in unison.

"Well, let's get started with this tasting," she said, moving to the opposite side of the table from them.

James couldn't keep his eyes off her as she started setting covered dishes on the table, talking about how the tasting would proceed. There was just something about her that drew him in and it wasn't just the fact that she was gorgeous and blonde and just his type, according to Donna's many lectures on the subject over the years.

(She was right but he was never going to admit it to her.)

It was the way her eyes sparkled as she talked about her creations and the way her smile seemed to be impossibly made out of sunbeams and pure joy. Not even Donna elbowing him in the side when she saw that he wasn't paying attention could bring him down.

"I've selected five cakes for you to try along with six different frostings and fillings. I can direct you towards some of the most popular combinations or we can just wing it and see where it goes."

"Whatever you think is best," Donna said. "What is everything?"

Rose took the cover off one of the plates. "This is a traditional white cake. I've added a bit more vanilla that normal for some extra flavor. I would recommend it with the orange spice frosting or any of the berry ones. Strawberry and raspberry are the most popular but I've also filled a lot of orders for this cake with lemon."

"Mm, no lemon for me," Donna said definitively, going for a bite of the cake with the orange spice frosting while James tried the strawberry.

The tasting proceeded in that same vein, the two of them trying different combinations of cake and frosting as Rose directed them to popular choices and some of her favorites. The baker laughed at the back and forth banter between James and Donna and more than once, James thought he caught her gaze lingering on him.

(He thought it was probably just wishful thinking but he was going to go with it anyways.)

When Rose went to go grab one more frosting type from the kitchen, Donna turned to James with a knowing smirk.

"You know, when I told you to be nice, I didn't mean make mooneyes at the baker."

"I'm not!" James spluttered.

"Oh you so are. She'll be at the reception, you know. If I don't see you dance with her I'm going to take matters into my own hands and no one gets to say no to the bride on her wedding day."

"That, that's low, Donna."

"Thank you," she said, turning back to the table just as Rose reentered the room.

"Alright you two, last two cakes and then we can start narrowing down options," the baker said. She lifted off another cover. "This is a banana cake, one of our specialties here."

"Donna," James started excitedly.

"Oh my god. I should have warned you that he was bonkers," Donna said to Rose. "He's a bit obsessive about bananas."

"Sounds a bit Freudian," Rose responded with a wink. "But I'm the one who made banana cake one of our signature cakes so I can't say that I'm any better."

"You're brilliant," James blurted out before he could stop himself.

Donna groaned. "Alright, let's try the banana cake. Please ignore my idiot friend."

"I don't know, he seems to have good taste," Rose said, directing a tongue touched grin at James.

His heart tripped over itself before racing into double time. Maybe there was more to this than wishful thinking after all.

He dug into the banana cake without even waiting to hear what frosting went with it. "This is gorgeous," he enthused, mouth still full. He swallowed his bite and then turned to Donna who was still debating frosting. "You have to have banana cake at your wedding, Donna."

"Not likely, Spaceman."

"You haven't even tried it yet!"

"Shaun doesn't like banana," Donna reminded him, arching an eyebrow.

"Always knew there was something wrong with him," James muttered. "But he'll have a groom's cake, right? This one's supposed to be yours."

"He has to eat some of it still," she shot back.

"But _banana cake_."

Donna finally took her bite of cake as James watched expectantly.

"It's very good but I think I'm still leaning towards the first cake."

"Traitor," James muttered.

"Still one left to try," Rose cut in, laughter in her voice.

The rest of the tasting flew by. Donna and Rose consulted on what Donna was looking for aesthetically in her cake after the bride-to-be decided on the white cake she'd tasted first along with the orange spice frosting, despite James's frequent urging to reconsider the banana cake.

When they left Bad Wolf Bakery it was full of sugar and hope and a promise from Rose to Donna that she would stick around the reception for a bit and enjoy herself.

(At the reception, James was over the moon when Rose pulled him back into the kitchen to share the small banana cake she'd brought for the two of them.)

(He learned later that it tasted even better secondhand from her lips.)

(Donna never let him forget that he'd tried to get out of that fateful cake tasting or that he got together with Rose because of her.)


End file.
